Stanford All Ho-Hum Over Starr Visit / His daughter joins Chelsea at the Farm

Bill Workman, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, September 17, 1998

A year ago, Stanford University was abuzz over the arrival of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton who were on campus to drop off their daughter, Chelsea, on her first day as a freshman.

This year, however, the campus is noticeably quiet and uncertain over how to respond to the pending visit of the president's chief nemesis, independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who arrived in Palo Alto last night with his daughter, Carolyn, a member of this year's freshman class.

Nonetheless, the irony of the situation was not lost on Stanford students yesterday.

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"The cosmic forces are really at work, aren't they?" quipped Alejandro Rubio, a senior majoring in anthropology and a member of the Stanford band.

Tomorrow, Starr is expected to help his daughter settle into her dormitory and join 1,700 other first-year students and their families in the day's freshmen orientation program.

Media interest in Starr's anticipated Stanford appearance has been "spotty" at best, according to one campus official, and officials at the independent counsel's office in Washington, D.C., have had nothing to say about their boss's plans.

As in the case of Chelsea Clinton, Stanford officials have stuck to their policy that the school does not release information that might invade a student's privacy.

They would not say yesterday what, if any, arrangements may have been made for Starr and whether he and his family will get front row seats for tomorrow afternoon's freshman convocation in the Quad, as the Clintons did last fall.

Stanford Police Chief Marvin Herrington said Starr is "just another parent as far as we're concerned, and we'll protect him the same way as we will other parents who will be there."

A relaxed, casually dressed Starr, accompanied by two U.S. marshals pushing carts piled high with luggage, checked into the Cardinal Hotel last night in downtown Palo Alto. He, his wife and daughter have reserved three nights in a modest one-bedroom suite for $150 a night.

Smiling, Starr said last night he would not comment on his investigation of Clinton, but said he is "just delighted" that Carolyn is going to Stanford.

If the Starrs follow the routine of most parents of incoming freshmen, they will get to campus early tomorrow to unload Carolyn's luggage, meet her roommate and make plans for attending orientation activities for the day, which include the 3:30 p.m. convocation.

More than 1,200 parents have signed up to eat an outdoor lunch with Provost Condoleezza Rice or dinner with Stanford President Gerhard Casper. In between, freshmen and their families have the option of attending a variety of sessions with faculty and administrators.

Like Chelsea Clinton, who spent her high school years at an exclusive private school in the nation's capital, Carolyn Starr comes to Stanford from a tony pri vate institution, the Potomac School in McLean, Va.

Starr had also applied to other schools, including Pepperdine University in Malibu, where her father last year accepted, and then postponed, a faculty appointment after protests that he would be leaving his probe of President Clinton before it was completed.

"It would make an interesting seminar, wouldn't it, if Chelsea and the Starr girl could agree to hold one and tell their stories," said Bill Smart, a Palo Alto investment manager and Stanford alumnus, as he enjoyed coffee at Tresidder student union yesterday.

Pema Tashi , an assistant at Stanford's graduate admissions office, said he hopes the two young women will eventually meet each other "and have a constructive talk about what their fathers have gone through."

At the same time, he added, "I think they are intelligent enough to realize they should not live in the same world as their fathers. Like, get out."